Power Rankings: March 2007

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Everything changes in the Marvel Universe.

By Richard George

Power Rankings are something all of the big sports sites offer. ESPN.com does it. Yahoo does it. Even our parent company, Fox, does power rankings. Well, we hate being left out of any party. Of course, we don't cover sports here at IGN Comics, but that wasn't about to stop our appropriation of the Power Rankings concept.

Each month we'll assemble a list of the movers and shakers in the comic-book community. Whose stock is on the rise and who is headed for a fall? Finally you can keep track of the most important characters and teams week-to-week. Finally you can keep track of the most important characters month-to-month. Rankings are influenced by the quality of new comics of the week, new announcements and external projects.

We've changed things up a little. In order to give a little more suspense, the order has been reversed. We'll start with #25 and move to #1 on the second page. We all know you ultimately just want to see the top 5, but those little guys down at the bottom deserve some exposure too! This also means that the "Heat Change" arrows no longer correspond to a character's physical movement on the chart - it only stands for whether they're gaining or losing popularity.

Ordinarily a title like Manhunter wouldn't register on our Power Rankings. The book is absolutely superb, but doesn't carry the heat that most of these characters and properties do. But recent events have forced us to recognize this series. The Marvel Universe has a Phoenix character, but Manhunter has come back from the brink of death twice. We're talking about a series here, not a character. That's pretty remarkable. You know a series has to be good, no matter how small it might be, to warrant that type of treatment.

Nick Fury is just about the only character that could rank on our list despite not appearing for more than a panel or two in over three years. There are two factors to his positioning on this list. The first is that he's in constant contact with elements in the Marvel Universe, including the Winter Soldier. The second is that the Ultimate Universe features Fury all over the place. We love both versions of the character, so we factored them both into his overall appeal.

Namor nearly changed the tide of the battle between Captain America and Iron Man. As if that weren't enough to generate some buzz, the Sub-Mariner is also getting his own mini-series. Tony Stark manipulated events to strain relations with Atlantis in order to unite his country. That might prove to be his undoing as Namor is not someone to toy with. Whether war is in the future or not, this prince will definitely be a key player for months to come.

Diana Prince disappeared from our charts due to her title's erratic shipping schedule, but DC's recent actions have corrected that problem. A new writer is taking over the book, and the Amazons Attack mini-event is about to kick off. You can't have Amazons attacking and not feature Wonder Woman in a major way. Look for Diana's stock to rise more than it already has.

Personal affection for this brand aside, the TMNT movie, which opens today, more than warrants a push onto our list. We've seen the film; it's dumb, but it's still very enjoyable. With a cartoon series, toys and comics all being actively published, this property has a buzz that hasn't been seen since the early '90s. Relive some Turtle Power!

It's been several years, but Buffy fans should be pleased with the strong debut of Season Eight. Though it's making the move from television to comic books, the brand has lost none of its charm - creator Joss Whedon is seeing to that. With a third of this multi-year project being handled by Whedon himself, and with talent like Brian K. Vaughan, Drew Goddard and Jeph Loeb at the helm, this series is hot. Speaking of hot, we can't believe how gorgeous Jo Chen's covers have been. We look forward to seeing those images almost as much as the next actual issue!

19(-)

Winter Soldier

The man formerly known as Bucky Barnes moves onto the Power Rankings because of his inevitable key role in the aftermath of Captain America's assassination. We doubt that the Winter Soldier will become the next Cap, but he'll definitely have some part to play if there is a successor. Meanwhile, we look forward to seeing Cap's former partner trying to track down the architect of the murder - the Red Skull.

18(18)

(- -)

Punisher

Punisher is another candidate for the mantle of Captain America - though we don't think anyone else in the Marvel Universe suggested it. Frank Castle looks to be paying an odd sort of tribute to Steve Rogers by donning the red, white and blue colors&#Array; while still dealing death and judgment. We're so intrigued by this one that Punisher remains in a strong spot on our list.

17(20)

The Gunslinger

We justified Roland Deschain's position on our list last month on the strength of one issue. Now that two have come out we're convinced things are only going to get better. Readers new and old alike will enjoy the Dark Tower mini-series, which is part adaptation and part new material. The entire team, from Stephen King and Robin Furth to Jae Lee and Peter David, deserve even more accolades than they've already received. We can't wait for the third issue! And the fourth&#Array; and the fifth&#Array;

We've been dying to see another series dedicated to villains, but we never thought it would be this fun. While the original concept for this series was based on villains masquerading as good guys, Warren Ellis's take isn't quite so deceptive. These are bad people being forced to do good deeds - but they barely qualify as being benevolent. Consider Venom nearly eating his prey or the fact that Bullseye subsequently nearly kills Jack Flagg when Flagg tries to escape. This book is absolutely twisted, but it's also unlike anything else out there at the moment.

Marvel is pushing Carol Danvers in a big, big way. While this character is relatively unknown to many casual fans, she's definitely going to be around. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Tony Stark turned to Danvers to lead his Avengers team. She was able to hand pick her roster, and also gained access to S.H.I.E.L.D. resources to operate side missions to preemptively strike against villainous organizations. If you don't know this character, we'd recommend you start reading Mighty Avengers and Ms. Marvel. Both are doing well, and Danvers is going to be a part of big things in the coming months and years. Take our word for it.

Ouch. Superman plummets in value, and we can't say we're surprised. This biggest asset for this iconic character is the superb Action Comics - and we're not getting another Donner/Johns/Kubert chapter until&#Array; wait for it&#Array; June! With All-Star Superman shipping whenever it wants to and the regular Superman title focusing on Trickster (no joke!), there's nothing about the Man of Steel that's particularly worthwhile. With things heating up in virtually every other property, we're thinking you'll see this one sink lower before it goes back up.

Wolverine has some decent projects at the moment, but none of them are really worth any excitement. The core series, with Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi at the helm, is decent, but the promised "big secrets" have yet to materialize. Origins continues to be a joke. Logan's involvement in other titles is decent, but even his Avengers participation is nothing to write home about. Marvel seems to be downplaying this popular mutant for the time being - we couldn't be happier.

Hulk rebounds in a big way. With "Planet Hulk" effectively over and the Hulk preparing to invade the Earth, the sheer hype for what's in store is enough to push this character back up. From the preview pages we've seen we know that the Green Goliath takes on the Black Bolt, Fantastic Four, X-Men and more. Of course there's also that mysterious fifth cover&#Array; we're going to come right out and guess that it's Thor. Could it really be anyone else? We don't think so.

Batman is another brand that's losing steam. While doing well in Justice League of America, Batman is merely a small piece of a bigger picture there. Outside of that book, the past month has been pretty dull. The last issue of Batman was almost entirely prose. We like books, but we don't want books in our comics. Make all the jokes you want, but comics are visual narrative. Take out the illustrations and it'd be like watching a movie with your eyes closed. At any rate, Paul Dini has been taking a rest from Detective Comics and All-Star Batman&#Array; well, DC says it's coming. That doesn't really help this brand for this month though.